If you could afford it, would you hire a cleaner for your home?

eZonomics poll respondents are divided over whether they would hire a cleaner for their home if they could afford to. Overall, 57% of the respondents say they would and 43% say they would not.

How much is my time worth?
When deciding whether to hire a cleaner or do-it-yourself, several factors come into play. The value – or “hourly rate” – an individual puts on their time is one. Financial education website LearnVest has come up with a calculator that estimates the worth of an hour of the user’s time. It makes the calculation based on the person’s income, their amount of free time and other factors. If a person is cash-rich but time-poor, the option to hire a cleaner is likely to be more popular. Such thinking tools can be used in a wide range of situations, including whether to order in or cook at home or and buy a flight with a stopover or go on a more expensive, direct route.

Do you appreciate things more if you do-it-yourself?
In behavioural economics, the “IKEA effect” argues that we get attached to things we create. This may also be a factor when deciding whether to hire a cleaner.
An earlier eZonomics poll details how the IKEA effect is used to describe the way people tend to give a higher value to things they have done or made.
Professor and author Dan Ariely explains the effect in a video on his website – giving the examples of people highly valuing IKEA furniture they have made, homes they have painted themselves, gardens cared for by hand and food cooked at home.